Chapter 185: The Emperor Rises Once More: II
Chapter 185: The Emperor Rises Once More: II
Each heartbeat from earlier had already shaken the souls of the crowd, but now a second pressure began spilling from Woolie’s evolving body, one far heavier and more direct than before.
It was the feeling of standing before someone who did not merely want to win. It expected to rule.
It was overbearing, violent, arrogant, and impossibly proud. The weak could not even keep their heads raised anymore. Thousands of Terra Beasts had already fallen to their knees, but now even many human Battle Masters beneath Gold started trembling under that invisible pressure, their legs giving out as the aura passed over them like a decree from nature itself.
Raiden’s own body was also shaking, but unlike the others, he could still stand, if barely.
He could feel the bond between himself and Woolie burning hotter and hotter, to the point where it almost felt like his blood had turned into boiling thunder. His body, already wrecked from the battle, should have collapsed by now, but some strange strength kept him upright.
Around the thunder pillar, the giant storm above them continued to swell.
The dark clouds churned as though the heavens themselves were being stirred by some ancient hand. Purple and crimson lightning flashed endlessly between them, while the rain pouring down over the battlefield no longer felt like ordinary rain.
Every drop seemed heavy, carrying a strange pressure inside it that made the skin crawl. The wind had become even more violent now, flattening trees in the distance, ripping broken banners from the human line, and blasting away corpses and debris for hundreds of meters around Woolie’s cocoon of thunder.
The Black Dragon suddenly roared.
It could not take it anymore.
This overwhelming pressure, this sense of being forced beneath another creature’s authority, this rising power that was threatening its position on the battlefield, all of it made the dragon finally lose control.
With hatred burning in its golden eyes, it forced its limbs to move and lunged toward the centre of the thunder pillar, black flames erupting from its mouth once more. Even if it had to crawl through terror in his heart itself, it was going to kill the thing inside before it fully emerged.
But the moment it stepped into the outer range of the storm, all the lightning in the sky reacted.
RUMBLE!!!
Dozens of enormous bolts came crashing down at once.
They struck the Black Dragon from every direction, smashing into its back, neck, wings, and skull with enough force to blast the huge body straight into the ground.
The beast let out a furious, pained roar as black flames fought against crimson-violet thunder in a chaotic burst of destruction. The surrounding earth disintegrated. Chunks of melted stone flew through the air. But before the dragon could force itself back up, another wave of lightning fell, even faster and harsher than the first, as though the sky itself had judged its attempt as an unforgivable offence.
For the first time since arriving at the battlefield, the Black Dragon looked powerless. That sight left everyone stunned.
John, still half-kneeling in the distance, stared with a dry throat and bloodshot eyes. Other Battle Masters who had spent the last hour fighting for their lives could only look on in disbelief.
Even the surviving Platinum Terra Beasts behind the Black Dragon had stopped advancing entirely. The sabertooth had lowered itself fully to the ground now, trembling. The giant mantis stood frozen with both sickle-arms pulled close to its body. The fortress-backed boar, which had looked unstoppable earlier, had outright dropped onto its front knees and no longer dared to move.
Nobody spoke. Nobody knew what to say. Because what they were witnessing no longer felt like a normal evolution. It felt like a coronation.
Inside the pillar, Woolie’s body continued to rise higher and higher as the thunder around him grew denser. The arcs no longer struck him wildly. They circled him, obeyed him, danced around him. They started to worship him.
A crown-shaped ring of lightning slowly formed above his head before breaking apart into four rotating sigils, each one pulsing with terrifying force.
His hooves, once tiny and harmless, had become sharp and heavy enough to crack the air around them with every minor twitch. The wool along his neck and chest thickened into a proud mantle, while the rest of his body became leaner and more battle-ready, carrying not the bulk of a beast that relied on weight, but the streamlined power of a king that knew no one could challenge him directly.
Raiden felt his breath catch in his throat.
Woolie was beautiful. No, Majestic.
Then the pressure changed once more.
Until now, it had been spreading outward in every direction without restraint, crushing everything below it. But suddenly it began drawing inward.
The thunder pillar narrowed. The wild storm circling Woolie’s body started compressing closer and closer to him. The lightning sigils above his head spun faster, then shattered into sparks that merged back into his body.
The hundred-metre pillar that had connected heaven and earth began shrinking from the outside inward, folding into him layer after layer as if the entire storm was being swallowed whole.
The battlefield grew quieter.
The thunder did not vanish, but it became concentrated. The winds weakened slightly. The rain began falling less violently. One by one, the creatures and people who had been forced to bow managed to lift their heads again, though none of them dared move too much. Their eyes remained fixed on the lone figure descending from the fading pillar.
Woolie slowly floated back down toward the earth.
His new body was now fully visible.
He was much larger than before, no longer the tiny sheep who could fit in Raiden’s arms, yet not so large that he had become monstrous. He stood at a size that was perfect for battle, powerful and compact, carrying the weight and majesty of an Emperor.
His coat had turned Pitch Black with violet lightning patterns spread naturally across it, while thin red lines glowed faintly beneath the surface like sleeping fire.
His horns were elegant and dangerous, sweeping backwards like curved blades touched by a storm. The most frightening part of all, however, was not his new form.
It was the Absolute Domain around him. No beast dared roar. No one dared speak.
Even the Black Dragon, lying amidst scorched craters and smoking wounds, had forced itself back up only halfway and was now staring at Woolie with a face full of disbelief and fury.
Raiden looked at him too, his chest rising and falling heavily.
For a brief second, all the pain in his body, all the destruction around him, all the fear and desperation and helplessness he had felt until now seemed to fade into the background.
In front of him stood the same ridiculous partner who had once run around a hill picking fights for the sake of cooler titles. The same shameless idiot who wanted to become emperor because it sounded better than king. The same little gremlin who headbutted enemies ten times his size and never knew when to back down.
And now he really looked like one.
The last of the thunder pillar disappeared completely.
Woolie’s hooves touched the broken ground.
The moment they did, a low crack spread outward across the battlefield, and a final ring of pressure rolled off his body like a silent command. The Terra Beasts for miles around lowered themselves even further.
Some whimpered. Some pressed their foreheads into the mud. Others simply trembled in place, unable to disobey whatever ancient instinct was demanding submission from them.
Raiden’s heart was pounding wildly now.
He did not know what skill had been born. He did not know how much stronger Woolie had become. He did not know what price had truly been paid for this impossible evolution.
But none of that mattered for this one moment.
Because slowly, in the middle of the ruined battlefield, beneath the darkened sky and the fading storm, Woolie lifted his head and opened his eyes.
The Emperor Had Returned.